By Marlowe Hood AFP - Wednesday, June 27 07:49 pm
PARIS (AFP) - The discovery of a mouse embryonic stem cell startlingly similar to its human counterpart will likely speed progress toward the regeneration of healthy cells and organ tissue in people, two studies reported Wednesday.

The newly-found "epiblast" stem cells, taken from the inner-most layer of week-old rodent embryos, will provide a better model in testing potential therapies for human diseases and injuries, the researchers said.

"They are a missing link between mouse and human embryonic stem cells," Roger Pedersen, who headed a research team at Cambridge University, told AFP.

The other group was led by Ronald McKay at Oxford.

Both studies, published in Nature, were hailed by other scientists as a breakthrough that would shed light on the origin of human embryo stem cells and help fulfill the rich promise of cell-based medicine.

Adult bone-marrow stem cells are already used in the treatment of leukemia, and experiments suggest stems cells could also yield effective treatments for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, spinal cord injury, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and numerous other illnesses.